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Thursday, March 19, 2015

Dance Gets off to a Great Beat

If the appetizers were any indication then this is going to be one of the best tournaments in recent memory. Before we could even get our beer and chips and get in out seats the play-in games, which in prior years were seen as tickets to get into the dance but also early plane tickets home, now have given the school that awaits the winner something to think about particularly in the 11 v 11 games. Yesterday Hampton showed shades of yesteryear as they played 40 strong minutes and beat a good Manhattan team by 10. Now if they weren’t matched up against one of the best top seeds in history they’re may be some whispers of the unthinkable, but not this year. Speaking of beating Kentucky, the school that came the closest played like in on Tuesday as they shut down the highest scoring team in the nation in the 2nd half while droppin’ 62 points of their own after being down 17 points to come back and win the game. They showed both offensive firepower and defensive prowess that may have Xavier asking how on earth are they’re a #11 seed. That is going to be a great 2nd round game and Vegas thinks so as well, setting it at a paltry 3 point line. Closing out the “First Four” on Wednesday both games came down to the wire putting all kinds of pressure for the Thursday/Friday kickoff to measure up the same bar. Robert Morris looked more like the school that took Kentucky out years ago in their 1 v 8 matchup, and Dayton used the mojo of a home crowd to beat Boise State in the final seconds. I’m not sure if the Flyers can pull the same magic away from the confines of their home (where they were 17-0 this season) but Providence will certainly not have a first round bye, and Duke had better not expect a practice. With the games that normally are not worth watching past the first half suddenly looking competitive, let’s look at the rest of the lineup for the Thursday/Friday seedings and hope we get plenty of sleep to last the marathon which will be worth it.
12:15PM (14) Northeastern vs (3) Notre Dame* CBS
12:40PM (14) UAB vs (3) Iowa State* truTV
1:40 PM (14) Georgia St vs (3) Baylor* TBS
2:10 PM (15) Texas Southern vs (2) Arizona* Turner Network Television
2:45 PM (11) Texas vs (6) Butler* CBS
3:10 PM (11) UCLA vs (6) SMU* truTV
4:10 PM (11) Ole Miss vs (6) Xavier* TBS
4:40 PM (10) Ohio State vs (7) Virginia Commonwealth* Turner Network Television
6:50 PM (16) Lafayette vs (1) Villanova* TBS
7:10 PM (9) Purdue vs (8) Cincinnati* CBS
7:20 PM (13) Harvard vs (4) North Carolina* Turner Network Television
7:27 PM (12) Stephen F. Austin vs (5) Utah* truTV
9:20 PM (9) LSU vs (8) NC State* TBS
9:40 PM (16) Hampton vs (1) Kentucky* CBS
9:50 PM (12) Wofford vs (5) Arkansas* Turner Network Television
9:57 PM (13) East Wash vs (4) Georgetown* truTV
View all of the scores, stats, schedules, brackets, and more here.

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